


24 Days of Jalec Christmas

by Noteventhat (Facialteeth)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Annoyed Alec Lightwood, Canon Compliant (if Jalec was canon), Christmas Fluff, Cold Weather, Cute Jace Herondale, Happy Alec Lightwood/Jace Herondale, Holidays, Kissing, M/M, Mistletoe, Oneshot Prompts Challenge, POV Alec Lightwood, Parabatai Bond, Parabatai Feels, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Young Alec, Young Jace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Facialteeth/pseuds/Noteventhat
Summary: Jace loved almost everything that the holiday season had to offer and he was so excited to experience it for the first time with Alec. Alec himself? Alec wasn’t too fond of any of it but… well, he was willing to put up with it for Jace.Jace and Alec are fourteen and Jace is determined to bring a little bit of holiday cheer into he and Alec’s life, even if Alec drags his feet most of the way.
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Herondale
Comments: 23
Kudos: 30





	1. Candy Cane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace finds some candy canes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are fluffy young jalec prompts based of the 'Malec Discord Server Advent Calendar'. They're not exactly connected but based in the same AU. There are supposed to be twenty four of these. It's day three, I've just started them and I have an awful track record at keeping up with these things. Let's see how many I manage to do.

Jace was aghast when he found out that Alec had never tried a candy cane before. This was of course right after he himself had tried a candy cane for the first time. See, the Institute wasn’t exactly fond of mundane holidays and nor were shadowhunters too into sugary treats that the mundane seemed to like so much. So, it wasn’t really a surprise that at fourteen, neither Jace nor Alec had ever tried a candy cane before.

The day they finally tried one, they’d been walking around the city like they’d taken to doing as of recently and Jace had ducked inside a small gas station to get them a drink before they kept walking. When Jace finally came out of the store, he had a candy cane shoved in his mouth and without taking it out (or handing Alec the drink he clearly wanted) Jace asked if Alec had ever tried a candy cane before.

Annoyed that Jace was ignoring his obvious interest in his beverage, Alec shook his head no and instantly, a smug look came over Jace’s features, like he wasn’t just trying a candy cane right now for the first time. “Wow,” he said, finally pulling the white and red stick out of his mouth. “I can’t believe you’ve never tried one before. You’re so uncultured.”

Alec rolled his eyes, resigning himself to the fact that Jace was apparently never going to hand over the drink _he’d paid for_ , when Jace finally pulled the soda out of the plastic bag he was carrying and handed it to him. Alec took it wordlessly, rationalizing that Jace had forfeit a ‘thank you’ when he’d walked out of the store and decided to be annoying.

“Really, it’s so good,” Jace continued when they started walking.

“That’s nice,” Alec grumbled, walking faster as if he was trying to leave Jace behind completely.

Jace just sped up to keep pace with him and then, at his side again, he waved the candy cane in Alec’s face, very nearly getting the thing stuck in Alec’s hair. “I mean it,” he said when Alec failed to look even a little interested. “It’s really good,” he insisted as the candy cane ducked out of Alec’s face again and assumably went back to its place in Jace’s mouth.

This time, Alec didn’t humor him with a response. He just kept walking, more than happy with his soda. It was only after they’d walked nearly another whole block in silence that Jace finally spoke again, his voice soft and hesitant in a way that it hadn’t been before.

“You don’t want to try it?” He asked.

His tone alone was enough for Alec to stop in his tracks and turn to look at him, not understanding what had happened to make Jace sound like that or why exactly Jace cared so much if Alec wasn’t interested in the candy he’d bought. “Not really?” Alec said, his eyes scanning Jace’s face to try and see if there were any hints about exactly why Jace was so hung up on this.

The moment Alec said it, Jace looked so dejected that Alec rolled his eyes yet again. “Fine, let me try it,” he said, reaching out for the candy in Jace’s hand. Without a word, Jace handed it over and as Alec tried it, Jace’s eyes stayed locked on him, like he was trying to spot any hint of if Alec liked it or not.

“So?” Jace asked when Alec handed it back to him.

“It’s good,” Alec said, finally turning to start walking again, assuming that was where they’d leave this whole conversation about the stupid candy cane.

“Yeah,” Jace said, suddenly sounding excited. “Don’t you wish you got one?” He asked.

Alec turned to look at him. “Did you really make me try it so you could gloat about me not having one?” Alec asked, deadpan.

Jace stared for a moment before a slow smile broke out on his face. “Nope,” he said as he reached into the plastic shopping bag and pulled out another candy cane, before handing it over to Alec. “I got you one too.”

For a second, Alec held the candy limply in his hand, feeling surprisingly touched. Then, he rolled his eyes as he realized Jace could have just handed him the candy cane in the first place. “Thanks, Jace,” Alec said as they started walking yet again.

Beside him, Jace grinned. “You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually finished three of these and caught up but I'm too tired to edit anymore, so one will have to do until tomorrow.


	2. Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace becomes obsessed with the idea of a mistletoe.

Apparently, there was a stupid mundane tradition around Christmas time where the mundane hang a plant from the ceiling and whoever happened to pass under it would have to kiss in order to go by. Now, this certainly wasn’t a tradition that the Institute partook in, so Alec really could have gone his whole life without knowing about it. Except, Jace had recently taken a vested interest in mundane traditions, or he’d taken an interest in the ones featured in the holiday movie he’d found and forced both of them to watch the night before. Unluckily for Alec, there was a scene with a mistletoe in it and after that, Jace was obsessed.

Alec had never really liked holidays. It helped that shadowhunters didn’t celebrate any of them and certainly not with the bright festivities that the mundane celebrated theres with. He really thought that, as a shadowhunter, he’d never have to celebrate mundane holidays or their stupid traditions that forced people to kiss but he also hadn’t taken into account that his parabatai, for some reason or another, was charmed by the holiday and everything about it.

It wasn’t just the mistletoe that Jace liked. That morning, Jace had insisted they had to go get a Christmas tree for Jace’s room, which was really more like _their_ room by now. So far, Alec had managed to get him to hold off on that one. He was terrified that dragging a _real tree_ inside was going to flare up his allergies and not to mention the bugs they’d probably bring inside with it.

But Alec couldn’t veto everything Jace wanted to do, especially when he came back from training (training that Jace was _supposed_ _to_ attend) to see that Jace already had the… thing hanging up.

The moment Alec walked into their bedroom, Jace spun, widening his arms to gesture to the door way that led into the bathroom like he was revealing something fantastic. What Alec actually saw there was… a stick with some leaves that it looked like Jace had ripped from various plants around the Institute and stuck to it, hanging from the doorway.

“Do you like it?” Jace asked instantly.

Alec frowned. “What is it?” He asked, almost regretting the question a second later when Jace’s entire face fell.

“You can’t tell?” He demanded, dropping his arms.

“You…” Alec trailed off for a moment, honestly at a loss. “You hung up a stick,” Alec settled on, which apparently wasn’t the right answer.

“Yes but do you know what it is?” Jace asked, suddenly crossing his arms. “We watched the movie yesterday,” Jace snapped when Alec said nothing more.

Suddenly, it clicked and Alec knew exactly what it was supposed to be. Except… “You know a mistletoe is an actual plant right, not just any plant you hang like that?”

Instantly, Jace rolled his eyes. “I _know_ that,” he snapped. “We didn’t have any though and I don’t know where to find it, so I made my own.” Suddenly, Jace was frowning, “I worked really hard on it,” he insisted.

Alec wanted to make fun of him and point out that all he’d really done was hang up a stick and some leaves but Alec could tell that Jace was honestly disappointed by Alec’s reaction, so he refrained. “No, it… looks nice,” Alec said, trying to sound like he meant it and failing. When Jace didn’t look any happier, Alec started forward, moving closer as if he was admiring it more. “It’s nice,” he said, managing to pull it off a bit more that time.

Jace watched him for a second before mumbling a quiet, “Thanks.” Clearly, Alec’s damage was already done.

Alec had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “It _is_ nice,” he snapped, his patience wearing thin. “So, what are we supposed to do?” Alec asked, looking up to the slowly spinning, pitiful excuse for a mistletoe. “We’re supposed to kiss, right?” Alec asked, annoyed enough that the words slipped out without any hesitation.

Truthfully, Alec and Jace had kissed before. It was something new, something they did every once in a while when they were completely alone and something that they, up until now, hadn’t acknowledged any further.

Jace’s eyes went wide and for a second, Alec felt a flash of fear. He was scared he’d misunderstood and suddenly, he regretted saying anything at all but before Alec could open his mouth and spit out whatever words he could say to try and take it back, Jace was nodding softly.

For a moment, neither of them moved and then Alec swallowed down his fear and leaned forward, gently pressing his lips against Jace’s own. Neither of them closed their eyes and the kiss was brief but when they pulled away, both of their cheeks were flushed a soft red and Alec thought that a good, if not embarrassing, sign.

“I’m not kissing you every time I have to go to the bathroom,” Alec said, finally turning to take off his sweaty clothes.

“Only if we go into the bathroom together!” Jace shouted back.

As annoyed as he was, Alec thought he could deal with that, at least for the rest of December. 


	3. Snowflake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace wakes Alec up, excited to find that it's snowing.

The first snow of the season was special, or… Jace thought it was at least. Alec thought it was the same as every other snow that would torture them for the rest of winter. Which is why Alec was less than thrilled when Jace woke him up at three in the morning, telling Alec that it was showing like Alec should care.

Maybe, Alec would have cared had it been morning and they had nothing to do but look out the windows in wonder. Maybe, Alec would have cared if he hadn’t been sleeping and they didn’t have a trial the next day, one to test them on their abilities and determine if they were ready to go on missions or not. Maybe, any other night Alec would be thrilled at Jace’s sudden announcement but tonight? Tonight, Alec didn’t care. He wanted nothing more than to push Jace away and go back to sleep.

Which is why he pushed Jace away and attempted to go back to sleep. Apparently, Jace wasn’t too thrilled about that because all he did was move nearly on top of Alec again, shaking him with a sudden vigor, repeating again that it was snowing as if Alec hadn’t heard him and that’s why he wasn’t excited.

“I don’t care, Jace,” Alec snapped, still set on not opening his eyes until it was the next morning.

“You _do_ ,” Jace said instantly. “Of course, you care. Just get up now and we can go outside for a few seconds and then we can come back inside and go back to sleep. If you just get up now, we’ll be asleep again in a few minutes.”

“Jace, I don’t want to.”

“You do. Alec, please. Come on,” Jace shook him again. “Just for a minute.”

A low groan started in the back of Alec’s throat. “Go alone!” He snapped, knowing that Jace wouldn’t do that at all.

“I don’t want to go alone. I want to go with _you_ ,” Jace said instantly.

For a moment, Alec let himself breathe out the aggravation that he was feeling and then, he shot himself up, pushing Jace off him in the same motion as he threw himself off the bed to go throw on pants and shoes.

Behind him, Jace scrambled to do the same, assumably trying to hurry up so he’d be ready when Alec was and Alec wouldn’t change his mind. That was fair because if Alec finished getting his shoes on before Jace, he’d have to decide if he was going to storm outside without him or turn around and crawl back into bed, knowing Jace would just wake him up again.

When Alec finally did turn around, after shoving his jacket over his shoulders, he found Jace standing by the door, his hair a mess on top of his head and his pj’s showing just how _unprepared_ they both were to go outside in the snow. Jace didn’t seem bothered by that at all. Instead, he grinned. “You’re going to love it,” Jace said as he pushed open their bedroom door and started leading Alec out, towards the front door.

“It’s snow,” Alec snapped. “I’ve seen it before.”

Jace didn’t respond but he didn’t seem any less excited either. Jace led him down the hallway, towards the entrance way, past all the older shadowhunters who looked like they were getting ready to go out on a mission. Jace led him towards the door and without any other prompting, he pulled the heavy metal door open and led Alec out into the fluffy snow that was in fact drifting slowly from the sky and leaving a thin layer of white across the ground.

Jace darted down the steps and behind him, Alec followed at a slower pace, only feeling even more irritated by the feeling of the snow hitting him in the face. He couldn’t believe he’d been woken up for this and yet-

Jace turned, spinning in a circle with his arms held out wide like Alec was supposed to be impressed by the snow falling around him. “See?” Jace said. “Wasn’t this worth it?”

Alec took in a deep breath. He wanted to tell Jace that _no_ , it wasn’t. They had very important stuff to do tomorrow and all Alec wanted was to be in bed asleep but instead he was here, standing in the freezing cold but Alec didn’t say any of that. For a moment, he took in Jace’s happy face, the snowflakes falling onto his messy golden hair and Alec just couldn’t be mad.

Tomorrow, he was sure he would be. Tomorrow, he’d make a point of being mad but tonight, in the show, Alec let a smile show on his cold face. “Yeah,” he murmured, swallowing his pride enough to let him and Jace enjoy this moment. “It’s nice.”

The moment didn’t last too incredibly long because a second later, before Alec could even comprehend why Jace was bending down to grab snow from the ground, Alec was being smacked in the face with a snowball.

After that, the moment was lost and Alec just wanted to go inside again but it had been nice for a second.


	4. Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Jace realized Alec liked Christmas lights, he was determined to drag Alec to some street he'd heard of that was decorated top to bottom. They don't quite make it there but what they do make it to is nice as well.

Though Alec wasn’t too fond of anything else the holiday season brought, Alec did like the Christmas lights people strung up. It was one of the things about the holiday that he didn’t mind seeing everyday and wasn’t immensely irritated by. They were pretty and Alec loved how over night, their normally grey city could be lit in beautiful hues of red and green.

Jace, upon realizing how fond Alec was of staring out the Institute's windows at any of the holiday lights he could see, was overjoyed and instantly insisted that he and Alec needed to go out and see the best Christmas lights their city had to offer. Apparently, there was some street that was completely decorated and he was more than a little excited to bring Alec there.

Alec was okay with that, mostly because it seemed like a nice thing to do and not too different from the walks he and Jace would go on normally. Except, Alec hadn’t quite realized when Jace suggested that they walk there instead of taking the subway, that walking meant they’d be trekking across the entire city in the mushy grey snow when neither of them had bothered to go get their winter gear yet, gear that would have included boots and pants that would keep them dry and warm and probably have made the entire walk bearable.

Alec hadn’t realized that at all or he probably would have insisted that they take the public transportation that their city lovingly provided them, that or stay home entirely. By the time Alec had realized exactly how far Jace planned for them to walk, they were already too far from the Institute for Alec to insist they turn back, something that Jace seemed well aware of and none too upset about.

“It’s going to be worth it,” Jace insisted, even as he inched closer to Alec, wrapping his arms around himself and seeming like he was trying to leach any heat he could from Alec’s also freezing body.

Alec did nothing but hum, scared that if he opened his mouth his teeth would start chattering and he wouldn't be able to make it stop.

For a while, they continued walking in silence, a true testament to how cold Jace was that he’d shut up for so long without insisting Alec acknowledge how great he thought this was going to be, when they finally got there.

Alec was surprised when they walked another block or two and then Jace finally slowed down, coming to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk as all of the mundane, who looked far more appropriately dressed than they were, rushed by them.

“What are you doing?” Alec asked, more annoyed to be standing still in the cold than he’d been marching through it.

For a second, Jace hesitated. “Maybe, we should go get a drink and try to warm up…” Jace murmured, causing Alec to turn and notice that he hadn’t just stopped on some random sidewalk. They were in fact standing outside of a cafe that was strung with lights, advertising itself as a refuge from the cold.

“We don’t have any money,” Alec murmured.

Jace shrugged, already inching towards the door and the warm light that was billowing out from the cafe. “We can use invisibility runes and just take something,” Jace suggested, his eyes flickering towards Alec a little desperately.

Normally, Alec would be opposed to that kind of thievery but… it was freezing outside and they still had to walk all the way back to the Institute, or at the very least back to the subway that was another couple of blocks away. Alec supposed this one cafe could survive having two of their drinks taken.

Alec nodded sharply and they both rushed towards the doors, slipping inside as Jace reached into his pocket and pulled his stele out. Standing in the warmth that felt downright heavenly, they both stilled so Jace could swipe as his invisibility rune and then move to activate Alec’s for him.

The cafe was cute and decorated rather adorably for the holiday season. Alec saw an empty table near the window, one that had a centerpiece of fake snow and he darted towards it instantly, murmuring for Jace to go find them something to drink as he did.

The cafe was rather busy and it didn’t take Jace too long before he snatched up two warm drinks from the counter. The mundane wouldn’t have seen him take it and they’d probably just assume they hadn’t been made at all. Beside himself, Alec didn’t feel too bad about it. He couldn’t be when Jace handed one of the warm drinks over and Alec felt the plastic cup warming his hands and soothing the cold in his chest when he finally took a sip. It didn't even matter what was in the cup. It was amazing no matter what it was. 

Jace pressed into his side and Alec let him without too much of a complaint. They were both soaked. Walking back was going to be hell but for now, Alec took another sip of his drink and let the cafe warm him.

“Hey,” Jace whispered, lifting his head from where it had been nuzzled into Alec’s shoulder. He bumped his shoulder into Alec’s softly, calling his attention as he pointed to the Christmas lights that they could see decorating the entire outside of the cafe. “I found some,” Jace murmured.

Alec let out a soft laugh and after a second, Jace rested his head against Alec’s shoulder again, relaxing into Alec’s warm touch. “Yeah, you did,” Alec whispered back. “Next time though, we can just go to a cafe close to the Institute.”

Against his side, Jace nodded and together, they both lapsed into comfortable silence, letting the warmth in their hands and between each other chase away the cold from outside. They hadn’t found whatever amazing street Jace had heard of that was decorated top to bottom but this? This was nice too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm caught up! Yay!


	5. Seasonal Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace drags Alec to a store to buy some eggnog.

Alec wasn’t too fond of eggnog and as far as Alec knew, Jace wasn’t either. It was too sweet, too thick, too gross. Even Jace, who liked sweets far more than Alec did, found the drink rather disgusting. Which was very upsetting to Jace, who saw everyone drinking eggnog in the Christmas movie they’d watched and felt decidedly left out.

Given all the holiday activities they’d partaken in recently, Alec thought they could live with not liking eggnog but apparently, Jace disagreed. He thought they needed to make it work and Alec was cursed to forever follow Jace’s whims. Which is how Alec ended up in a grocery store late at night, staring at all of the flavors of eggnog that each looked equally as gross.

“Candy cane eggnog?” Jace posed, having already read countless flavors out, flavors they’d decided would not help mask the horrible taste of eggnog at all.

“Why ruin the taste of candy canes?” Alec responded, which Jace apparently found a reasonable point because his eyes instantly went back to scanning the shelf, looking for something else.

“Pumpkin eggnog?” Jace said after a moment.

“I think that’s a Halloween thing,” Alec said, not that he really cared about them keeping on theme but Jace did, so Alec had to as well.

Frowning now, Jace kept looking. “Oreo?” He mumbled, clearly none too enthused about the last of the flavors they hadn’t vetoed yet.

Alec groaned softly. “Why don’t we look for something eggnog flavored?” Alec posed instead. The thought of eating a cake or a cookie that tasted like eggnog seemed far better than putting any of the things Jace was proposing in his mouth.

Jace paused for a moment, thinking about it and then slowly, he nodded. “Yeah, that could be good,” Jace murmured, following Alec as Alec instantly pivoted to head towards the bakery and away from the cold refrigerated section.

“Why do you care about us trying all this stuff anyway?” Alec asked as he found the pastry shelf and started looking around vaguely for anything that would fulfill Jace’s desire to put something holiday related in his mouth.

For a moment, Alec was so caught up in his task that he didn’t even realize Jace hadn’t answered him, until Jace suddenly spoke, “We just don’t celebrate anything,” Jace mumbled.

Alec froze and slowly, turned to look at Jace, frowning. “What do you mean?” He asked.

Almost self consciously, Jace shrugged. “We don’t celebrate anything. We don’t have any holidays of our own. We don’t even celebrate birthdays, not really. The only time we dress up and decorate is when someone is dead.”

Alec blinked in surprised as he took in Jace’s words. He wasn’t wrong. Shadowhunters didn’t believe in holidays but Alec hadn't expected them to go from talking about eggnog to _this_.

When Alec didn’t respond, Jace continued, “We’re going to be going on missions soon. I just thought it would be nice for us to try to celebrate something before one of us dies.” Neither of them moved and after a second, Jace’s eyes flickered away, looking back to the food they’d walked all the way out here for. “It’s kind of stupid,” Jace mumbled.

Alec took in a slow breath. “No, it’s not,” He said at last, looking to the pastries again but not really seeing any of them. “It is nice. It’s fun," Alec said, frowning to himself. They _would_ be going on missions soon. Shadowhunters their age, younger, had died in the line of duty. Jace wasn't just being paranoid when he talked about their theoretical death.

At his words, Jace chuckled. “You don’t like most of the things to do with Christmas.”

Alec scoffed. “No, I don’t but it’s nice celebrating it with you anyway. Just pick something to steal so we can leave.”

Jace reached out and grabbed a box of eggnog sugar cookies, before holding it out towards Alec for approval.

Instantly, Alec nodded. They actually looked pretty good, certainly a lot better than the eggnog they’d been looking at before. “Yeah, that’s perfect,” Alec said, finding that he actually meant it. “Grab it,” Alec said, already turning to head towards the doors.

It went without saying that neither of them had any money to pay for the cookies but they already had activated their invisibility runes. Everyday, Alec was more and more okay with stealing to make Jace happy. He’d have to put a stop to that after Christmas or… Well, they’d see. Alec figured it really didn’t hurt anyone if they stole little things. Besides, it wasn’t like Alec’s parents were throwing cash at either of them, even if they wanted to fix their criminal ways and start paying for stuff. 

Alec hadn’t even noticed that Jace hadn’t followed behind him, until Jace was suddenly there again, still clutching the cookies and holding a bundle of something red that Alec couldn’t even place, until Jace was already shoving it onto Alec’s head and throwing his own on.

It was a Santa hat, two Santa hats more specifically.

Jace grinned and Alec couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Cute,” he said before Jace could demand another response from him.

“I know,” Jace replied, already opening the plastic cookie container to pull one out and push it towards Alec, who accepted it rather willingly. The cookies were far better than any actual eggnog and after they’d both tried one, they paused in the automatic doors to the store before unanimously deciding to turn back and grab another box of cookies before they made their way home.

It just made sense while they were already there to get two and Alec was glad they did, when they ate a whole box before they even reached the Institute’s steps.


	6. Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the power out, Alec and Jace have some time off to spend together.

Vacations weren’t exactly a thing to shadowhunters. They had _breaks_ , periods where they’d be off shift, off call and impending any disasters, unreachable but vacations were not a thing, especially to shadowhunters as young as Jace and Alec who hadn’t even gone on a real mission yet.

If they’d asked for time off, away from their training and their studies, they’d have been laughed at. Needless to say, Alec and Jace would not be having a _vacation_ anytime soon but… that didn’t mean they weren’t going to get a break at all. Jace called it a ‘christmas miracle.’ Alec thought it was just a well timed coincidence. 

See, the Institute just happened to lose power and normally, that would mean almost nothing because they had generators and back up generators and somehow, they always seemed to manage to keep everything running when the whole city would go dark but this time, when they lost power, it wasn’t back on a few minutes later. In fact, an hour later it wasn’t back on, which is when Jace and Alec both left the library (where they’d been studying against Jace’s will). When they walked into the lobby, nearly everyone ignored them in favor of darting around, doing whatever orders they’d been given. 

Alec found his mother near the door and she, shortly and without really looking at him, told him their generators were broken and for him and Jace to go to their rooms for the rest of the night and stay out of the way. Alec knew that them being offline meant none of the sensors were working. They wouldn’t be able to tell if any demons popped up in the city, not without having people out there to see it at least.

Everyone would be working tonight and probably not stopping until the power came back on but for Alec and Jace? To them, all it meant was that they got the night off, that they probably wouldn’t have lessons in the morning and that there were no adults who would want them for anything at all. It was the best ‘vacation’ they’d get and Jace, predictably, was more than excited for he and Alec to take advantage of it. 

The power being out also meant that their room was completely dark, save for the candles they lit. It was cold as well. There was no heat when the power was out and Jace’s big tower of a room grew cold quicker than any place else in the Institute. It wasn’t long before their ‘vacation’ plans devolved into them curling under all the blankets they’d managed to gather from both of their rooms, bundled together so tightly that it almost felt like they were in a cocoon. 

The drafty air made them curl even closer until there wasn’t an inch between them- their arms tangled together, their legs folded over one another, Alec’s head nuzzled against Jace’s shoulder. It was in moments like this that Alec thought their parabatai bond had never felt as strong, when everything was warm, when they were curled together so closely that it almost felt like they were one.

Alec could have spent the rest of the night like that, quiet, comfortable, curled into Jace’s body as easily as if it was his own. Except Jace apparently had other plans, ones Alec couldn’t really complain about. 

“Hey,” Jace whispered, after an unknowable amount of time had passed. Alec hadn’t been asleep but his mind had been more or less turned off and when Jace spoke, Alec’s eyes fluttered open, squirming against the warmth and Jace’s skin until he could peer up and find his parabatai’s eyes in the dark.

Jace moved forward before Alec even knew what was happening. In no time, Jace’s lips were on his and Alec felt dizzy at the feeling, his whole body tingling with warmth, a different kind than from a moment before. Kissing was something they’d done before but after a moment, it was clear to Alec that kissing wasn’t the only thing on Jace’s mind. 

Again, not that Alec was really complaining. In fact, he was rather pleased with the turn of events and as far as vacations go, Alec wasn’t really disappointed with the way he and Jace’s turned out. 


	7. Bells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec gets Jace a gift that backfires completely.

Of all the holiday things that Jace had forced Alec to be subjected to, none were as aggravating as the one that Alec had brought on himself. Really, Alec should have known right away that it was not a good idea. He should have known Jace well enough to know that it would not be something he would put down, until it was well past aggravating but Alec, naive young Alec, hadn’t foreseen any of that.

Instead, he’d simply seen a pair of bells at the store during one of their excursions, a pair of bells that was colored blue and white for the other mundane holiday that Alec knew happened around this time. Though it wasn’t Christmas themed, Alec thought Jace would like them anyway. So, he’d done the stupidest thing Alec thought he’d ever done in his entire life and he picked them up and shoved them into his pocket to surprise Jace with later. At that point, he’d still had ample time to back out, realize the error of his ways and never tell Jace about the bells at all. 

Only, Alec hadn’t done that. What he’d done instead was give them to Jace when they got back into their bedroom, murmuring that he thought they were cute and that Jace would like them.

Jace, to no surprise of Alec, did like them but Alec hadn’t known just how much Jace would like them. Jace shook them for about ten minutes before he got bored and dangled one from his tongue, calling Alec’s name until Alec turned to look at him. After that, he’d put them on his shirt. Then, he'd put them on his stele and then swung it around before he grew bored and simply held them, shaking them back and forth as he stared off into space.

Alec thought he’d stop after a few minutes. It was a gift. He couldn’t yell at him. He’d stop after a few minutes and finally let Alec focus on the book he was trying to read but Jace… did not stop and soon, a minute grew into five, which grew into ten. 

They were bells. He had to grow bored with them and stop at some point but he didn’t and finally, when Alec really thought he was about to scream, Alec turned to Jace to yell at him but Jace turned to look at him in the same moment, his hand stilling and the sound of the bells _finally_ stopping. 

“I think I could learn to play the maracas,” Jace announced.

Alec… blinked and then he took a deep breath and slowly nodded. “Yeah,” he said a little too hoarsely to be casual. “You probably could,” he managed to force out. 

Jace nodded in return, seeming as if he was really considering it. “Thanks for the bells, Alec.” He said finally before he started shaking them again, this time gently bobbing his head as he did so.

Alec took another deep breath. “You’re welcome.” He looked down to his book as if he was able to focus and he made himself stay silent. Jace was happy. Alec couldn’t tell him to stop.

That didn’t mean the bells didn’t mysteriously disappear in the middle of the night, never to be seen again.


End file.
